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Cissexism is everywhere, every day

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the toxic masculinity, societal anti-femininity and transmisogyny that shapes the way I present
The dresses I would’ve worn had I not feared the thump and the dent
And the times I look in the mirror and what I see I resent

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the assumptions made about my gender because of the way I speak and look
The killer aesthetic choices I wish I could’ve took taken
And the killer from which society must awaken

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the force that makes me reclusive and my bed my main station
The distance that grows between mind and body in an oppressively cis occasion
And the autopilot to which I anxiously hand over control of such a situation’s navigation

Gender-diverse queer spaces give me life

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the “is that all sir?” in destination retail
The forms that read “Gender: Female or Male”
And the letters addressed “Mr” when I’ve always put “Mx” – fail

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the use of the “male” toilets to avoid unwanted attention
The (not really) gender-neutral signs made without self-education
And the free emotional labour that has become standard cis expectation

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the “ladies and gentleman” announcement on the Underground
The choice to neglect asking someone their pronouns
And the failure to say a simple sorry when getting it wrong… *frowns*

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the “he”, the “boy”, the “lad”, the “man”
The cis not doing what they can
And the shit they let hit the trans emotional fan

Gender-diverse queer spaces give me life

Cissexism is everywhere, every day
Cissexism is the expressive freedom we’ve all been denied
The many times I could’ve cried and cried
And the times upon times trans people have unnecessarily died

Notes

Highlight your own experiences of everyday cissexism by tweeting @CissexismDaily.

Thanks to the following fabulous folk for feedback on drafts: David Cary, Kit Heyam, Lee-Anne Lawrance, George Norman and another who knows who they are. Thanks also to research informants and performers at queer spaces like Wotever World’s Bar Wotever and Non Binary Cabaret whose openness about their own oppression (and other stuff) no doubt motivated me to speak about mine.